Psychologist with 20+ years of experience, Independent Educational Evaluator and Psychological Assessments

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By Danny Crum

Dec. 29, 2012
11:45 a.m.

Rumor has it, starting 07-01-2013, Pennsylvania Department of Education/PDE will no longer accept Asperger's as a legitimate disability category. What does this mean? If the rumor is true, they will deny your child supports and services (e.g., IEP) they are in need of and entitled to. In need, because Asperger's, while difficult to understand, does in fact impede certain skills and abilities. Entitled, because your tax dollars pay for funding for public education, which includes salaries of all public employees.

Asperger's Disorder, posthumously named after Hans Asperger, M.D., is currently listed under Pervasive Developmental Disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual/DSM alongside Autism. Rumor has it, as of 07-01-13, when the new DSM comes out (e.g., DSM-V) the DSM review committee is putting Asperger's under a newly approved umbrella (e.g., Autism Spectrum Disorders). Consequently, Asperger's will gain even more legitimacy.

So why then would PDE ever consider not accepting the diagnosis??? WHY???!!! Assuming the rumors are true of course.

MONEY!!!! They're trimming the fat people. Don't believe me? Years ago, PDE removed "neurological impairments" from Chapter 14 (e.g., IEP chapter) as a standalone disability and put it under the generic "learning disabilities" category. Do we really believe that seizure disorders, a neurological impairment by the way, are the same and should be treated the same as a general reading disability???

We may not know the exact root causes of Asperger's but guess what, we're still speculating about a lot of things (e.g., Autism). Regardless, we need to recognize that these children...our children...are struggling with a real disability and need our help....not our exclusion.